Case Study: Lifepoint in North Carolina
April 16, 2025
Apollo and Lifepoint paint a rosy picture of PE hospital ownership; safety and quality data tell a different story
Private equity ownership of healthcare providers has increasingly come under scrutiny for a business model that prioritizes short term profits over patient care.
Lifepoint Health is one of the largest hospital systems in the US, with facilities in over 30 states and 50,000 workers. It is owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Under Apollo’s ownership Lifepoint hospitals around the country have attracted scrutiny for serious quality failures that put patients at risk.
Apollo has argued that quality of care has improved at Lifepoint hospitals under its ownership. However, in North Carolina, where Lifepoint has the largest footprint of acute care hospitals, declining safety and quality ratings paint a different picture.
In this case study, PESP delves into the decline of Lifepoint’s North Carolina hospitals through an examination of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) data on a number of indicators including overall quality ratings, hospital acquired infections, heart failures, and ER wait times.
Find the full case study here.
